Don't Question Thieves
by SKSuncloud
Summary: All thieves have something they'd like to keep quiet, some are just more subtle than others. It's slash with Legault and Heath! Do enjoy. Really long oneshot! seriously, like... 13 pages!


**A/N-** After my major inactivity spree, I finallycame back! And lo… I've given up on all my fics! … And now you're all getting out your pitchforks… EEP! Don't kill me! For fans of my other fics, I'll get them done… just keep reminding me! And I seriously don't mind it when you give me ideas! I love constructive feedback! And I do tend to forget things if you don't keep reminding me… Sorry!

Ok, enough about me! It's time for what you've all been waiting for! The really long one-shot I wrote as my apology!

This is way different from my other fics. Hope you like it! This is all written from a male point of view! - I think I have more confidence writing as guys now that I hang out with them more! Hope I sound authentic… and just so everyone knows, I am female, okay? Be warned, this is really long... like... 13 pages... so don't freak out! Enjoy! This is Legault/Heath.

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**Don't Question Thieves**

"What might you be doing?" a soft voice asked from the doorway. I quickly shut my notebook and swiped it off the desk and into the inner pocket of my trench-coat. I slipped my fountain pen up my sleeve and whisked out a map thathad previously beenrolled up to one side of the desk and spread it quickly across the table to cover my work area. I was proud of myself for having done so without moving my shoulders or head very much, but then I was slightly embarrassed that I'd felt I had to act so fast when I turned to see who was standing in my doorway,

"Good evening, Lucius! I didn't expect you here!" I smiled brightly at the blond, glad that it wasn't someone who I knew would bother me. Standing up, I gave the clergyman a slight nod-bow.

"I apologize for my intrusion." He said, returning the bow, "Lord Eliwood has requested a meeting in the Great Hall and asks that you attend. Lord Hector has recently arrived and they will be beginning the moment Lord Pent and Lady Louise are here."

"I see," I said, considering the information. The meeting had been called rather abruptly. Usually they would inform everyone in the main house about a future meeting before calling people living outside the estate. I wondered if I'd just missed the information, though that was not my usual style. They'd probably avoided telling me forfear that I'd find an excuse to skip out."Thanks for telling me, gorgeous! I'll be down in a minute!"

Poor, kindly, pure-hearted Lucius turned bright red and got rather flustered at my comment. I knew it wasn't his fault he was such a pretty guy, but he made himself so easy to pick on! Although such a simple compliment shouldn't have bothered him so much. I suddenly had a sneaking suspicion that he'd become a monk because he'd been raped when he was young. I sort of felt sorry for him ; he was so frail… not that I'm all that strong, but I don't have girl-hips either. Girlish hips invite rape. It's just a rule of male life, like dropping soap in a prison shower.

I smiled as he tried to come up with a response, and I took a step toward him. I had every intention of simply giving him a pat on the shoulder and telling him that I was sorry for calling him gorgeous, but I had to stop short as another, far more menacing figure appeared in my doorway.

"Oh! L-Lord Raven!" Lucius said, seeming quite relieved. The one called Raven was glaring at me in a way that made me almost regret living. I made a mental note to deadbolt my door that night.

"Let's go Lucius." he said angrily, wrapping an arm around the monk's slender waist and pulling him possessively down the hallway. Lucius tried to give me a polite goodbye, but Raven held him tightly and marched defiantly away from me, stifling the farewell.So I stood at the door and waved them down the hall. Those two definitely had something going on. If Lucius hadn't been a monk and therefore forbidden to marry, I'd be seriously trying to get on the list for their wedding invitations.

Once they'd turned a corner, I stepped back into my room and closed the door. Leaning againstit I reached down and felt the hard form of the notebook in my pocket. I reached inside the long coat and carefully pulled it out. Hugging the notebook lovingly I reflected on how close a call that had turned out to be. Not only Lucius, but Raven could have also seen me writing! Why hadn't I heard their footsteps?

I shook the pen out of my sleeve and held it against the notebook as I let myself slide down into a sitting position on the floor. Gently opening the leather-bound cover, I ran my fingers across the carefully inked words that graced the first page; I then flipped carefully through each page till I came upon those that had no writing across their fine white pages. I stroked the soft leaf of pure white that lay open. I could almost hear it calling to me. It wanted to be written on. It wanted me to scroll out my every thought upon its face.

I shook my head at it, like I was denying a child a cookie before supper. I would write later, I knew I would, but the meeting had to come first for now. I closed my notebook carefully and stood. Walking to my bookshelf which contained the hundreds of well disguised notebooks I'd kept over time. I wiped the shelf with my sleeve, in case of dust, and set the notebook down on its side. I then lay the pen carefully next to it so that it was parallel to the binding. I would come back, I would! Then I would write until my arm got tired. I readjusted by headband.

The difference between healthy obsessions and unhealthy obsessions is really very society-based. Unhealthy obsessions make you seem cool to certain groups, such as the groups I used to hang out with. Healthy obsessions make you seem like a pansy, these are the kind of obsessions that no one cares if girls have, but they freak out if guys are obsessed with them. I may have acquired many unhealthy obsessions from my gang life, but I had two specific healthy obsessions that I was sure would ruin my image.

The first healthy obsession I had was Heath. Yes, Heath. The soldier /deserter /honest guy. I liked him. He was amusing. He was my simple pleasure in life. No matter how sexual that sounds, I'm sure it was completely annoying on his end. (Again, no sexual implications intended.) The man was homophobic. That still didn't stop me from teasing him whenever I got the chance, or loving him from afar.

The chance to tease Heath really didn't come as often as I would have liked. He'd specificallyrequested a room on the other side of the estate from where I'd been assigned, he made sure to keep his schedules opposite from my own, and he sometimes refused to speak to me whenever I did find a chance to talk to him. For a while I thought he was just still freaked out about the time I'd admitted to loving him, but I thought he would have gotten over that once I'd told him it was a joke. Still, no one escapes thieves!

It's a good thing that no one questions them either, since my other obsession would cause my social status to plummet if it was known to the public. I liked to write. I liked to write a lot. It had started out as a passion of mine that I'd acquired from when I'd been working as a spy in the Fang. But it had mutated into a true obsession. I couldn't make myself stop writing! I could usually quit addictions; I'd quit smoking after I'd met Heath and found out that Nino was going to be hanging out around me all the time, I'd quit killing, though I'd never particuarly enjoyed that. Still, I couldn't find a way to stop writing. It just seemed so innocent that I could always find a reason to start back up again.

I had tried everything. I'd tried spending more time in the library or in the kitchen talking to people, I'd tried riding horses more or actually helping with chores around the estate. Yet I always eventually found myself with some sort of marking utensil (aka/ pencil, pen, charcoal, crayon, knife) in my hand and I'd be marking up random objects, and I found that far more embarrassing and out of character than simply shutting myself away and writing for insane numbers of hours at a time.

I admit, writing isn't as bad as some things I could be doing. I could be an obsessive clean freak like Heath. Not that I mind or anything. That is the way that I learned that he was accessible, if you know what I mean. It was one of those, 'Oh good! I'll keep that for future reference!' types of things, because we all know that straight men can'tkeep a room clean.I also don't simply _talk_ as a hobby, you'd think that would be incredibly embarrassing, but some certain clerics seem to have enough self esteem to pull that off. Also, I don't knit. Because if I did I would have to go hang myself. Knitting is just about the worst thing a guy can do to himself. Lucius and Kent are both great at sewing (I know, Kent? Sewing? Weird… but it makes sense if you think about it!) but knitting is 100 times worse than sewing. Sewing is helpful in some situation, knitting, not so much. Any man who knits needs to kill himself to save the rest of mankind the trouble of pitying him.

Now that I got that out of my system… I needed to get to the meeting. I left my room and carefully locked the door. I then positioned my emergency lock by the hinges and set up a simple paper trap by the base of the door so I'd know if anyone tried to break in. Satisfied, but still rather paranoid, I left. Paranoia comes with spy and thief work. It's in the contract. In big bold, red print it reads "YOU WILL BE PARANOID IF YOU BECOME A THIEF/SPY/ASSASSIN!"… Or it would if there was really a contract. Or maybe there was and I'd just never signed it.

There is nothing wrong with writing. Nothing at all. My one track mind may be a problem, or maybe I could say I have a two track mind… either way, the real reason I was so worried about people finding my writing was because of what I was writing currently.

That's right. I, Legault, was writing porn.

No. I wasn't really. But I could have gotten away with it if I'd tried. Ideas for the future…

What I was writing was actually worse in my mind. I was writing poetry and romance short stories. Ok, everyone laugh at the loser. I sound like a girly rebel. But to salvage my diminishing reputation, I'll say this; it's not really totally my fault. I blame Sain. Everyone blames Sain, so he's a good person to blame. But it is Sain's fault this time!

As I headed down the hall for the meeting,my mindfell into replay-story mode.

So there I was, minding my own business, snooping around the stables trying to find a place that wasn't my room to hide since Nino had been coming by and banging on the door every half hour to see if I'd come watch her practice some magic tricks, when I heard a conversation!

Being a spy, I tend to like to listen in on other people's conversations, so I eavesdropped.

Kent was chastising Sain for something he'd done recently that had apparently sent one of the three small blue-ish haired sisters running off crying. I decided to assume it was Florina, the youngest, because she was scared of me and was most likely to cry.

Anyway, I listened for a while, wondering if this was really worth while when I heard a thud. The thud was an interesting thud because it came with an 'oof' in Kent's voice. I sneakishly peaked over to see what was going on.

To my… horror… I happened to witness a scene no man would ever really want to see but that fan-girls would live for. Yes. I saw a homosexual moment between one man I held some admiration for, and another that I'd made fun of already during this narrative.

Sain had Kent pinned with his arms above his head and his back to the stable wall. Green hair had a rather seductive look in his eyes, while red head look terrified. It was like watching a train wreck: I didn't want to watch, but couldn't turn away. Their noses were touching and Kent was trying to free himself, but as he was shorter than Sain and had a slighter build, he didn't really stand a chance of freeing himself from such a position. He hissed Sain's name like a curse. I considered leaving.

Then, Sain said something very softly that I cursed my well honed hearing for picking up on, "Please don't be mad at me, Kent." Kent then gasp slightly before the sounds coming from the two changed drastically.

Yeah, I left at that point. Who cares if Sain had really turned out to be a traitor and had killed Kent or something? I may not have been straight, but I certainly didn't swing _that_ way. Guy on guy does not excited guys. End of story.

I shook my head very hard. I'd tried to forget that image. I'd tried to forget it especiallywhenever I saw Sain walking down the halls with Kent insisting that they hold hands. Because, is there really a better definition of awkward?

Anyway, back topresent,the meeting needed to be top priority right now. I had to find out what crazed mission we'd been assigned this time. But more importantly than that, I was running out of inspiration for my writing...

Oh, that brings me back to the point of my story about Kent and Sain! After that day I found myself noticing the strange way that people had seemed to pair off more and more. Every time I noticed another unlikely couple, like Dart and Geitz (who saw that coming, right?) or Farina and Hector, or especially Vaida and Canas (wasn't he married at one point?) I would write about it. Just something short, a few pages of poetry or a nice romantic short story. Something to get it out of my system.

I slunk through the deserted hallways. Slinking is what thieves do. That's just the way it is. It's a practically silent way to move and it's so easy to go from a slink to a normal walk if you need to, and you can move to hide easily too. It also made me feel incredibly cool when I went slinking through hallways, and I really needed to feel cool after all this thought about what a pathetic girly-man I really was.

I turned down the hall and headed for the east stairway. It really was amazing that I had still failed to run into anyone. Maybe they were all already at the meeting? Still, I'd give the estate some credit for being so big. At any given time there could be over forty of us here, the majority of whom were under the age of thirty (myself included!) and you'd think that you'd at least run into someone while going to one of the main staircases. But I hadn't yet due to the over-large space to people ratio.

Not running into anyone was alright with me. It gave me a chance to admire the beautiful eastern staircase. It was built in a spiral and had over two hundred steps. It could take a full minute and half to reach the ground floor, and that was if you were moving quickly, which I wasn't. I was enjoying the way the view changed as I walked down the circling steps. If you were facing the window you could see the acres of grassy fields that stretched till they hit the forest that skirted the mountains. Directly opposite the large window was a hand painted portrait of a dragon sitting in a meadow of purple flowers. This was my favorite stairway in the entire estate. I loved the perfect serenity that the sweet scenes invited in me. I liked to take my time admiring the complimentary nature of the two. They were nice and big too, so I could admire them the whole way down aseach ran from just below the ceiling to just above the floor. Let's just say that this is another thing that people didn't know about me.

I held my breath when I reached the bottom. The stairs always seemed to transport me into another state of mind, I always felt like I had to wake up when I reached the bottom. I glanced up at the painting one more time. If I ever got the chance, I decided I would come and sit on these steps and write about this painting. I felt like it held some sort of symbolic resonance for me.

A loud voice from somewhere down the halls reminded me that I had a meeting to attend. Shrugging, I started off in the general direction of the main hall. I couldn't help wondering if Heath would be there. If he was he was going to have to stand by me whether he liked it or not. I'd even brought along handcuffs just incase things got desperate. I had wished I'd had them the last time a meeting was called and so I decided to be prepared this time around.

Upon approaching the larger-than-life doorway I stopped. The doors were shut. I don't care what anyone else says, no one of my stature can open doors that freaking huge. They must be at least 20 feet tall (no exaggeration) and at least three inches thick! That's just the way it is. So I stared at them. I stared at the doors very, very hard. There was just no way I was going to knock like a sissy. I'd just wait. I'd just wait and hope that I could stare evilly enough that the doors would spring open out of fear of me.Or, maybe I didn't need to attend the meeting after all? I considered this. It would be a brilliant opportunity to sit on those stairs and write poetry…

"Let me guess, you can't get in?" That voice! Does St. Elimine love me? I decided that had to be it. Some higher power was smiling down upon me and I was thanking it with every inch of my being.

"Heath! You have the most amazing timing!" I exclaimed, spreading my arms as if inviting a hug.

"You'll have to help me." He said, walking around me and putting his hand against the door. I shrugged, but didn't move. He was being so evasive again! Always straight tobusiness.What did he think I'd do? Molest him or something? Honestly, why did everyone think I was that type of guy? You were more likely to get raped by… by… _Karel_ than me! Not a good example… but really, I wasn't dangerous. Heath glared over his shoulder at me. I smiled in return.

"Are you grumpy today?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. Heath blinked and opened his mouth as if he was going to speak but didn't. I smiled when his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. I laughed and walked over to the right of him and put my palms flat against the door, "On three, right?"

"What? Oh, yeah…" he said, turning back to look at the wooden door. I noticed how nervous he looked suddenly. He seemed to be slinking away from me, so I stood as close to him as I could get while still able to push the door. He was blushing really hard. His long hair did nothing to cover the embarrassment since I was significantly shorter and could see his face from an upward angle. I purposefully reached up with the arm closest to him to adjust my headband, careful to let my arm brush against his. Then I laughed when he shrunk away from me.

"Alright, three!" I shoved hard, but I don't think I did any of the work. Heath's muscles bulged as he shoved hard. I could feel the door moving but I didn't feel like I was doing anything. He was definitely my 'big strong knight'. He would hate to be called that however, so I promptly told him, "Heath, you're my big, strong knight!"

Sadly, I should have waited for him to finish opening the door because now we were stuck with the door opened only enough to stick a foot through and Heath's face so hot he could fry his brain. He retorted with a lame, "What's that supposed to mean?" while glaring at me.

I considered my choices; at the moment I was already suffering writing withdrawal and needed something to distract me, so I could just kiss the poor blushing boy and make him feel even more awkward but save my own mind, or I could focus on getting the door opened. I wondered for a moment if it was possible to do both. I shoved at the door a little and decided that the first option was probably out of the question; I'd have to calm him if I wanted to get to that meeting. Which I sort of did, simply because Heath wouldn't dare to follow me anywhere else.

Thankfully, I didn't get the chance to fancy for long as Raven and Lucius arrived behind us at that moment.

"Um… will it not open?" Lucius asked.

I moved away from the door, "Nope! I fear I'm just not much help to Heath in this sort of situation. You'll have to sic Raven on it if we want to make it in time!"

Raven glared at me menacingly and Heath, who'd backed away from the door by now,wouldn't look at me. I felt so loved. Lucius touched Raven's arm lightly andamazingly enough, hecooled down. It was weird. It was like Raven was hot coals and Lucius was water and as soon as he touched Raven all the steam came out and he turned from red back to black. Opposite of what happened when happened when I touched Heath. I must have been fire and him lighter fluid. Wow that was an erotic example. I took mentalnote of it.

Luckily, we were spared any sort of extra effort as the door was yanked open at that moment.

"Are you lovebirds just going to stand there, or are you coming in?" Hector bellowed.

Lucius tried to stutter an apology. He looked completely petrified. Raven put his arm in front of the slender monk and pushed him behind him. I don't think Raven trusted Hector, even after the whole incident of misunderstanding between them had been cleared up. He looked heroic though, like he was protecting his princess… or… his Lucius… I made a note of the image of the two of them. After today I had no excuse to not write something about them. Secretly of course. No need to have everyone knowing that I was writing a story about them. No one would ask anyway.

Heathwas stillturned away, so I decided I'd have to answer Hector, but not before further embarrassing Heath, he deserved it… probably. I took a step and grabbed him by the arm. I held onto his arm like a school girl on her first boyfriend, and then I answered Hector, "We're coming in! Sorry for the trouble!" Heath was stiffer than support beam. It was rather hysterical.

He turned and stomped back through the hall, I could see that mostly everyone was already there. They'd probably been waiting for us. Actually, probably not, on a second look I realized that Pent and Louise weren't yet there. No, they must have been staring simply because we all looked so stupid standing there coupled off. Being all men I'm sure that was at least a little odd. Maybe. A lot of people in the estate seemed to have taken the homosexual route to life.

Actually, being coupled off like this shouldn't have been too odd either. Almost everyone was standing in a little cluster of five or less. Those who weren't were coupled. I didn't see anyone just standing alone anywhere.

I let go of Heath's arm and looked at him. He looked horrified. If he hadn't been such a strong character I'd have worried that he'd burst into tears of embarrassment. To be honest, I thought he looked like a Christmas tree. The green hair with the white streak complimenting his beat-red face. Heath was sure cute when he was mad at me. Though, that was probably the reason he avoided me at all possible costs; I tended to put him in awkward positions and make him blush. The real mystery was why he'd started blushing before I'd even reallydone anything…

Raven pushed past us, pulling Lucius along after him. They were holding hands. I wondered for a moment if I should find that disturbing or cute. I decided to tell myself that I hadn't seen it and saveme the trouble of deciding between the two equally wrong thoughts.

Heath gave me a look that clearly said, 'I hate you' but when I smiled in return the look turned into more of an 'I think I'm just scared of you' or maybe it was more like a 'Gosh you're pretty when you smile'… though that last one was just my imagination. Who knows, maybe he didn't even look at me at all and I was just making it up to make myself happy.We entered the Great Hall.

"Ah! Uncle Legault! I'm so glad you came! We've been waiting for you!" the mini-green-headed-child-of-happiness called to me. I suppressed a wince at the 'uncle' part and headed over in her direction. She was the foster child of the leader of the gang I'd been with who'd been killed a while back (how's that for relation?) and was really the last person living who I could call 'family'.

She ran towards Heath and myself. Standing in the corner from where she had come was the Angel of Death. He was another surviving member of the gang. He was one of those double agent types, a skilled assassin. The fact that he was currently glaring at me only freaked me out a little bit, because I knew that as long as Nino was between us he wouldn't attack me. Thank some holy spirit that he had a soft spot for the girl, otherwise, he'd probably end up killing every living being in the whole world.

"How are you, Nino?" I asked, kneeling and hugging her briefly when she reached me.

"I'm alright! Jaffar's been looking after me!" she said brightly, pointing to the scary guy behind her. He looked away. I swear he was blushing. Another thing to write about later.

"That's wonderful!" I lied, smiling in my best 'fatherly' manner. Now that her father figure and brothers were gone I had decided that I'd have to try to fill the gap, though I would never be able to protect her like Jaffar could. That demon would risk his life for the girl without a pause. Strange how people you live in fear of can suddenly seem so loving. I knew I had to accept him, but I still felt he held some of the blame for the fall of the Fang.

"And Mr. Heath is here too, huh?" she said, looking past me to the gloomy looking Heath who seemed to have been trying to slip past me unnoticed. Hetwitched and stood staring at us awkwardly, we, the three surviving Fangs all standing in our little gloomy corner looking like some mismatched deranged family. So welcoming.

Of course, I'd taught Nino well in the ways of Heath. Bless the girl.She ran straight over to him and proceeded to drag him back over to where I stood. I smiled brightly, "Yes! Heath helped me get through the insanely large door, didn't you Heath, dear?"

Hetwitched againand glared at me. Glaring seemed to be becoming quite a theme today. There was just no way that I didn't have a 'Glare at me!' sign on my headband. I couldn't decide between pouting or grinning, so I winked instead.

"Uncle Legault! You just have to try these!" Nino said happily, reaching into one of the big pockets of her dress. She pulled from the pocket a small wrapped package. This she proceeded in opening, much to the interest of myself, Heath, and even Jaffar, who glanced over warily. Inside the package were a variety of carefully shaped cookies. Jaffar looked away quickly. "Here! Try one! You too Mr. Heath!" she said, handing one of the little cookies to each of us.

I tasted it, more out of interest than caring. It actually tasted rather good. It was soft and easy to bite into without being chewy, it was sweet without being overpowering, all the flavors complimented each other perfectly. "Did you make this Nino?"

"Nope! It was Ja-!" she quickly covered her mouth with that hand that wasn't holding the cookie package and looked around nervously, "Um… of course I made them!"

Iwatchedher for a moment, chewing thoughtfully on my cookie. Ja- was the beginning of the name of very few people in the estate. 'Ja-' began Jaerel, our tactician, and it began Jaffar. I looked skeptically in the direction of the former assassin. He was not looking at us. In fact, he looked very embarrassed. I decided to leave it at that. Just like you don't question thieves, you don't question scary former assassins either. Besides, it isn't like it really mattered where the cookies came from.

"Well thank you very much Nino, it was delicious!" I said, smiling happily. Heath nodded his thanks also. The little girl beamed and giggled. It made me happy to see her happy. When the Fang had fallen apart and everyone had been killed she'd cried for so long. I felt horrible for being the last member left out of all of them, but there'd been nothing I could do. I owed a lot Jaffar, he'd somehow brought back her smile. He had my gratitude for that.

I looked over at Heath, he was just standing there, about three feet away from me, but still there, he hadn't tried to leave. I grinned at him. Such a nice guy. For a minute I wondered if he might be willing to hold a conversation with me. A glance from him told me that such a thing was probably out of the question, as he was blushing again. All the blushing was really starting to make me curious, and when I got curious, I often felt compelled to pick on Heath.

"Are you feeling ill, Heath? You look rather warm?" I said slyly. The poor guy stiffened completely and turned his head sharply in the opposite direction.

"I'm fine!" he growled.

I practically bounced. He'd just answered me without being prodded to! Someone somewhere _really_ loved me. To take advantage of his embarrassment, or not to take advantage of his embarrassment, that was the question. But I always seem to be saved from actually deciding on an answer to questions like this.

I caught a wiff of a conversation not too far away. It was obviously Matthew's voice, he was speaking with Guy. Probably teasing him as well. I felt like Matthew was a miniature of myself, we always seemed to have similar ideals. I doubt he wrote much however. He didn't seem like a poet, but I'd seem his fingers covered in some sort of blackish-grey substance on several occassions. An interesting study that would be if I ever had time. I desperately wanted to be writing currently.

It was then that the main entrance (yes, wehad comein a side entrance, just imagine how big the main one is!) was flung open by what appeared to be the force of the wind. Silhouetted heroically in the doorway stood the great Lord Pent and his Lady, Louise.

My opinion on the two of them had always been neutral. They were amazing warriors, very wise people,and they were of noble blood and everything, but honestly! I wasn't such a bad guy myself, but no one went on and on about how amazing I was. Yes, that's bitterness. I realize that my entrance was pathetic compared to theirs, but really, I couldstand a little credit too sometimes.

So the meeting would bebeginning. Oh joyous days! I wondered if this was going to be a ten second or a five hour meeting. My right hand itched slightly. I hadn't written for over fifteen minutes now. Ideas were spilling out of my head and dropping all over the floor. I was beginning to feel self-conscious again. There is but one remedy for a self conscious Legault!

I reached over and took Heath's hand in my own. I didn't lace our fingers or anything even remotely romantic like that; I just took his hand as if I was leading him somewhere. It did the trick. The reaction I'd been waiting for was finally here!

"What in the world are you doing?" he said, in just under a scream. Trying desperately to pull away. I smiled up at him and held on tight to his hand. Gosh he was cute. This was why I was such a torment to him all the time, just for this sort of reaction. This was also probably why he avoided me so often. There was a thing to ponder.

Luckily for him, his exclamation was heard by only myself and Nino… mostly because I'm not sure if Jaffar can actually hear. The hall had become quite noisy with the new arrival and no one was even bothered by the fact that Heath was flailing around with me attached to his arm. The only voice I could hear clearly over the loud hum of people talkingwas Serra saying, "Well it definitely took you long enough! I was just about to send Erky to get a chair for me!"

Don't we all love Serra? Such a nice girl. Really, when you're one of the people she doesn't insist upon speaking to, it's very easy to admire her good qualities. She really knew how to speak her mind. Not even Sain could put together a sentence so true to heart as that girl could. The admiration I had for her was so much that I could fill a whole acorn cap with it.

"We apologize for being late." Pent said, bowing to the ever-too-short-for-his-age Eliwood. Eliwood and he talked quietly for quite some time while standing in the doorway before Farina let out a loud sigh and asked if we were ever going to actually talk about something or if we could all leave now. That was when Pent put on his 'I am serious' face. Everyone has one, some people just have a more dramatic one than others. I'm told that I have a really good one…

The door was closed and Pent began, "You were all called together today because we have reason to believe that a power is rising up against us."

So it all came out. We were going to be attacked again soon probably. I squeezed Heath's hand. This meant bad news for me no matter which way you looked at it. I glanced at Matthew who had his armsdrapped around Guy's shoulders, it would be bad for him too. I could see in his eyes that he was expecting the same thing as I was.

There was a silent pause then Hector asked, "Directly against us, or just as a threat to us?"

Louise too the spotlight this time, "A bit of both. We aren't sure what their immediate plans are, but they are definitely threatening our unexposed survival out here. If they decide to move against us, we'll have to move everyone again. Things could be dangerous for a while."

Even though Louise and Pent didn't live in the main estate, they owned it. They basically took care of and hid all us misfits from the rest of the world. It isn't easy to hide assassins and mercenaries and deserters, not to mention all the other random people who'd been exiled or run away. We all had special talents, so as long as we helped out with whatever needed to be done concerning housework and protecting the valley (yes, we lived in a big valley, how cool is that?) we were allowed to stay. Occasionally something big would come up and everyone would be called together to pitch in and 'defeat all evil'. Which is how Nino and Jaffar and I had wound up here. We'd gotten mixed up when they'd stopped the Fang from trying to destroy the world. Honestly, I guess it ended up being a good thing that they did that. The Fang was dying out. We weren't what we used to be. We'd gone from a mafia-style gang to a mob of ruthless killers. It didn't really matter anymore.

Itightened my grip Heath's hand and he glanced at me. I must have looked depressed or something because he didn't try to get away from me. As I said before, a nice guy. Actually, I was surprised that he was still letting me hold his hand anyway. To tell the truth, he was acting a lot less scared of me than he usually did suddenly.

"What do you propose we do for the time being?" Lyndis asked, wrenching my thoughts away from Heath's slightly sweaty hand.

"I believe it would be wise to send out an investigation." Pent proposed, "That's why we called you all together. If I'm not mistaken we have two excellent spies among us currently. I believe it would be effective to send them in on a reconnaissance mission."

Aww! He said I was excellent! But this left a rather big sore in my side. Up till now I'd gotten away with not doing much work, now he planned to send me in? I'd predicted this, but it was still a shock. I hadn't done spy work in a long time. My last job had been more likeclean up dutyfor worthless members of the Fang, a safe, easy job. In, kill, out and on with life. I began to carefully word a protest in my mind to make it sound like I wasn't just scared and skipping out to save my own hide, but still convince them that this was not the best course of action. Nothing would get me out, but I deserved a protest. This day had begun so well too...

"Wait a minute!" I looked over at Matthew, the other spy, who had spoke up. "You're telling me that you're sticking me with Legault, Lord-knows-where, on reconnaissance? You've gotta be kidding me! Haven't we proven that we're better than that?"

He knew same as I did that we were doomed. Everyone needed to know more about this threat, we were the only ones they trusted to find out about them. We were entirely necissary. We would most certainly wind up dead.

"Sorry Matthew, but it's the best plan we've got." Hector said, sternly.

The sandy haired kid and I exchanged looks. I wasnot actually certain how good hewas as a spy. His pick-pocketing was excellent, but I'd never seen him in action undercover. He was so young too. I may have only been in my mid twenties, but Matthew hadn't even reached eighteen! …Wow that was romantic… I'd have to remember to write that down.My hand that wasn't holding Heath's twitched.

The silence was deafening. Everyone was looking between Matthew, who had his arm around Guy, and me, who was holding Heath's hand. We both probably looked like school girls. I sighed internally. I had to speak out for us, but I'd already condemned myself. This was going to happen. Life really sucks sometimes.

"I think what Matthew is trying to say is that this sounds suicidal for the both of us." I spoke up, "We've become rusty staying in this valley too long and neither of us would return alive if discovered anyway." I squeezed Heath's hand again, then let it go and took a few steps towards the center of the hall. Everyone was staring at me, so I adjusted my headband briefly and threw the hair that had crept over my shoulder back with a flick of my wrist, then I grinned painfully, "But if that's what you're asking, I accept. I can't keep living here till I get old and grey. I'll take the mission."

"Uncle Legault!" Nino cried, but Jaffar put a hand on her shoulder and silenced her.

Everyone was staring at me. It was awkward. I'd definitely have to write about this as soon as I got back to my room. For once, I seemed to be the brave one. Who'd have thought? The man who would rather save his own skin than anyone elses, the one who ran from the Fang just because it wasn't going his way, he was standing up and taking charge. I must have been getting old.

"Alright, we'll be counting on you, Legault." Pent said.

"I guess I'm in too, right?" Matthew said, sadly.

"I'm sure I can do this alone. You go on living, Matt." I said cheerily, "Give me a general location and I'll head out tomorrow."

Matthew shook his head, "I'm in. There's no point in only one of us going." he closed his eyes and leaned heavily on Guy, who had to adjust his stance to support him.

I nodded, then turned and left. My part of this conversation was done. I had to go prepare. Behind me, Matthew was heading out as well.

Thank whatever deity had decided to keep watch over me that the big doors had been left open. I walked through them and headed for the eastern stairway.

Behind me there was a lot of commotion. I heard a few peoplemoving around uncomfortably.Farther back I could hear Serra deciding that the meeting was over;

"Fine! Well then my gay boyfriend and I will be leaving!" she must have grabbed Erk's hand because he followed with;

"I'm you're _what_?"

I smiled. I'd miss that. But I'd missed things like this before. Didn't matter, I had to go write. This might be my last chance to write about those stairs and once I died it wouldn't actually matter if the whole damned estate knew that I liked writing. Actually… it would be nice if some of my things got read. Maybe…

In the hall, Eliwood had taken charge and they were discussing safety measures and plans for action. Jaerel, the tactician was refusing to agree with anything until she had more information. There was a lot of talking.

"Oi! Legault!" Matthew called. I stopped and turned abruptly so as to get the full flowing effect out of my trench coat. It made me feel really cool, like the caped bad guy in some drama. Once he'd caught up to me he said, "You don't have to play the hero. We'll meet up tomorrow and then discuss a plan of action, alright?"

I smiled, "Just be sure to say goodbye to Guy before that, alright? I'm sure he'd be disappointed if you left without giving him a farewell kiss." My smiled was lying so badly. Spy work and I were not good friends. No matter what anyone tells you, I don't do well in sticky situations. I escaped the Fang before it fell because I wanted to save myself; there was no reason for me not to do the same to everyone here at the estate.

"Same to you for Heath." he said and laughed, and walked down the hallway toward his room on the main floor. I smiled and then turned to head for the stairs.

"Wait!" a small voice called from behind me, I turned to see Nino running to catch up to me. I paused to let her catch me, "So you're really coming back then, right?" Nino asked, hopefully.

"Of course I'm coming back, silly! You don't think a few losers like that could stop me, right?" I lied to the poor little girl. I secretly prayed that Jaffar could continue keep her safe even if I failed. He was standing about five feet behind Nino. I gave him a slight nod, and he returned it.

I turned again and started walking, then I paused and turned back, "Nino, would you tell Heath to meet me at the top of the eastern staircase tonight? There's something I have to... give him." she agreed, and I left.

This was my last chance. I'd go back to my room, take my journal and pen, then I'd sit on these stairs for the rest of the evening and write about the painting and how it stared out into the meadows. I was looking forward to finally putting the feeling of the stairs into words.

If I filled up my journal, and if Heath came tonight, then I'd have no regrets. Spies tended to die with regrets. I was too old to keep such things hanging on my shoulders for the rest of my life.

I paused halfway up and looked out the window. If only I could be like the painting and be able to just stare out that window at the shades of the days of the changing seasons across the land for the rest of my life. I smiled sadly and sighed, continuing up the twisting stairs.

When I'd reached the top, I closed my eyes tightly before opening them and heading down the hall to my room. Dying wouldn't be so bad. I should really have died already. I was getting to be old for a thief, or for a spy.

I shouldn't be so down. I threw back my head and laughed merrily. It didn't matter! I had a story to finally write! I had a purpose for living through the night. Everything would be okay. I could come back. I really could.

A few locks and a few deep sighs later I was sitting halfway down the eastern staircase writing as the light died. I'd completely wasted a whole ink pen and was down to my last ten pages as the sun set, casting shadows across the painting that made it look as if the dragon were crying. I added that descriptionto my page.

When finally I had found a proper conclusion for my story in the light of the moon, I noticed that I had a whole side of paper left. I smiled and sketched a quick message across it. Then, closing the notebook, I hugged it to my chest. It wasn't even midnight yet, but I'd already finished. I hadn't even been disturbed once. How did people knowwhen you needed to be alone? Was it the connection we all shared of bloodshed on our hands? Oh, that was dark… if my wrist weren't about to die from five straight hours of writing I'd write something about that below my scribbled message.

"Legault?" my favorite voice called softly from the top of the stairs. I looked up to see the moonlit figure of my first healthy obsession.

I smiled and climbed the steps up to him. I wondered for a moment why I'd really wanted him to meet me here, and I thanked Nino for relaying my message so gracefully.The way moonlight glistened through the window it looked as if the dragon was watching us. I decided I didn't need a reason for him to be here. It didn't matter. I was about to basically commit suicide, I could ask Heath to meet me on the moon if I needed to, right?

"Looks like you came after all." I said, grinning broadly.

"Why did youwant to come anyway?" he asked as I reached the top and stood beside him.

I didn't even bother to ask myself why exactly I had. I reached out with my right hand and took his left. There were some sayings that went with this moment, weren't there? There was something I should say to him to capture the moment like in one of the sappy romances I'd been writing. But then again… silence might have been the last escape I had.

He was here. That's all that should ever have mattered. Maybe he'd accepted me, finally. Maybe he pitied me. He could probably tell that I was terrified of death, that I knew I was going to die and was fooling myself into a false sense of security. He reached out and took my other hand. I smiled. So he had accepted me maybe? Did he know how I felt about him? That had to be it. He might even love me back. That was the best idea. I wished for that.

I could feel myself still connected to the life of the staircase. It pulled me into its own world, and Heath's world, that of the rest of the house,was reaching out for me. I felt so fantasticallylost between both. It felt safe. I could love Heath. I could write and I could love Heath. Someday, he might even read my notebooks, he might even read the note I'd written for him on the final page of the notebook that had dropped from my hand and was lying on the floor between us.

In the moonlight, still captured in the aura of the eastern stairway, I leaned toward Heath. In my mind I was thinking, 'This must be why you don't question thieves, right? It must be because they die.' Deep down, my feelings told me that Heath wouldn't have come if I wasn't leaving tomorrow, but he was here. I could smell him. I looked up into his eyes, and leaned up, into his lips. It didn't have to matter tonight. I could still hold one obsession until the day I died.

My foot moved slightly and the journal slipped down a step, back onto the staircase. I kissed Heath.

_**The End**_

* * *

**A/N-** Three days and two liters of coke later and she's finished! WHOOT! This turned out a lot darker than I intended it too… it's also a lot longer than I thought it would be… but after I went back and revised, it makes more sense, so I hope you all like it!

I was trying to stay away from the stereotypical Legault. I love him so much! He's such a complex character… I decided that he was a little ranty, so I didn't bother to condense my train of thought anywhere. I also tried to get inside a man's mind… but I think that fails a bit at the end. Sorry! I'll try to fix that too… the ending might be lame... if you think so, don't just tell me, give me some ideas! I beg of you! XD

Well, thanks for reading! Do tell me what you thought!


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